Former Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes deliberately exposed himself to wardrobe staff on the show by taking naked naps during rehearsals, and at other times would rub himself up against them as they worked backstage, a Sydney court has heard.

Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes at The Downing Centre District Court in Sydney. Photo: Janie Barrett

As the 65-year-old actor's trial on 11 child sex charges continues, three former costume and wardrobe staff from Hey Dad! told the Downing Centre District Court that they had regularly been subjected to the actor's inappropriate and, at times, bizarre behaviour.

Lauren Jackson, a costume designer on the show from 1991 to 1994, said that Mr Hughes liked to have a nap between the end of one rehearsal and the start of the next, and that he would ask her to come and wake him up by gently tapping him on the shoulder.

Related Content

“There were incidents where he wouldn't be wearing anything … he had the sheet draped over his private parts,” Mr Jackson said.

“And then eventually there were times when he didn't have anything on and he would just be naked on the bed."

Advertisement

When the lawyer representing Mr Hughes, Greg Walsh, suggested it was not unusual for actors on the set to be in various states of undress, Ms Jackson replied: “No one on any of the shows I've worked was ever totally naked.”

“They've always given me the courtesy on having clothes on,” she said.

When Mr Walsh then asked whether it was possible Mr Hughes' sheet had simply come off while he was asleep, she said it had “looked like he was waiting for someone to walk in and see him naked”.

"He was a lot more alert when I woke him up when he was lying there naked."

Ms Jackson said that at other times, Mr Hughes would rub up against her as he walked around backstage.

“If there was a chance to rub himself up against my back with his genitals, he would do it” she said.

Charmaine Stubbs, who worked in Hey Dad!'s costume department from 1994 to 1997, said Mr Hughes exposed himself to her on more than one occasion.

“I was behind the common area and he would walk up and drop his pants,” Ms Stubbs said.

“I'd say, 'what are you doing?' – and he would look at me and pull up his pants."

When Mr Walsh put it to Ms Stubbs that Mr Hughes may simply have been getting changed, she said: “When someone drops their pants in front of you, it's not something you would normally see in a wardrobe situation.”